The new Porsche 918 Spyder has set an official lap time of 7min 14sec around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, following a series of official tests with prototypes of the advanced new petrol-electric hybrid supercar at the famed German circuit this week.

Although Porsche won't confirm who was driving the early version of the 918 Spyder at the time, it does say the best lap was achieved with a prototype boasting what it describes as an optional 'Weissach package' and on standard Michelin road tyres.

Porsche is similarly tight-lipped on what the Weissach package includes, although it is rumoured that the go-faster kit comprises items such as upgraded brakes, six-point harnesses and a focus on saving weight wherever possible. The stereo and aircon system is believed to have been removed to save weight.

“With a time of 7m 14s the 918 Spyder has confirmed the potential of its future-orientated driveline concept after just a few months of testing,” said Frank Walliser, head of the 918 Spyder development.

The official lap time for the 918 Spyder is among the fastest for a road-legal car at the Nürburgring northern circuit, undercutting the fastest time of its predecessor, the Carrera GT, which was achieved back in 2004 by some 18sec.

As well as confirming the 918 Spyder’s testing pace at the Nürburgring, Porsche has also revealed its hybrid driveline boasts an official 784bhp.

Powering the new two seater is a mid-mounted 4.6-litre V8 petrol engine, loosely based on that used by the Porsche RS Spyder race car, and a pair of electric motors mounted within the front axle assembly.

The Viper ACR redid it in 7:12, the LFA Nur Edition did it in 7:14. These are both cars three years behind in development cycle, and the Porsche has 200BHP more than the LFA, 100more than the Viper. Sure the Viper ACR is basically a race car, but the Lexus isnt.

And only 18 seconds faster than the 10 yr old 200bhp less Carrera GT.... I really wouldnt be boasting about that time Porsche. I personally dont care about Ring times, mean nothing but if you are going to boast at least show some real progress over your own cars.

The Viper ACR redid it in 7:12, the LFA Nur Edition did it in 7:14. These are both cars three years behind in development cycle, and the Porsche has 200BHP more than the LFA, 100more than the Viper. Sure the Viper ACR is basically a race car, but the Lexus isnt.

And only 18 seconds faster than the 10 yr old 200bhp less Carrera GT.... I really wouldnt be boasting about that time Porsche. I personally dont care about Ring times, mean nothing but if you are going to boast at least show some real progress over your own cars.

You miss the point of this car and their press release. Yes the lap times are being lauded but you are forgetting this is a hybrid using new tech. If Porsche wanted to build something quicker they could quite easily have done. Likewise what was the set up spec on both the other cars you mentioned? Were they running road tyres as the 918 was?

They were using the times as a comparison although perhaps Porsche would have been better quoting an average fuel consumption across the lap against the Carrera GT rather than the lap times.

Woo. The back of this car looks fantastic, although the headlamps are rather small. I hope they take this into account when pricing it - for Porsche money I'd expect bigger headlamps (or some serious reduction). I would love that English outfit , Overfinch, which does such a good job at making the wideboy Range Rover quite a classy vehicle to style this car for me. They would certainly do a better job of the headlights.

I must say though, in spite of the small headlights, that this is a far more attractive vehicle than that bilious orange Maclaren recently advertised by this magazine. That was far from easy on my eye and certainly not something to covet.

But what about the everyday driving stats?, you know?, the mpg figures,the Co2 etc,these are the ones that matter to us,ok,if you can afford one off them.

Peter, I can assure you that buyers of this car won't give a flying fcuk about its fuel consumption. Thats a bit like buying a 12 bed mansion in Surrey with a swimming pool and worrying about the lecky bill...